reef-pi :: An opensource reef tank controller based on Raspberry Pi.

[rushbattle]

The power controller guides goes over the timer section, both on adafruit - https://learn.adafruit.com/reef-pi-power-controller/configure-and-test and github - https://reef-pi.github.io/build-guides/power/

If you have deleted all your timers you just check crontab and ensure that all of them have been removed, if not maybe there is a bug etc...

I think my timers are fine, but crontab isn't showing anything at all which is confusing. I logged in via my normal profile, and I checked as root as well. Nothing showing up in crontab.

 

[rushbattle]

One thing I can do is help troubleshoot linux based stuff in my sleep, so fyi you rarely should have to reboot, take a peak at your crontab and see what you have listed in there. If you delete all of your timers then it should be blank, here is a good thread that will give you some additional background on cron - https://www.raspberrypi.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=187223

btw feel free to ask linux based questions, im a noob at the electronics stuff but I'm a long time linux user and should be able to help with those kind of questions

That explains why crontab wasn't showing anything even though I have some timers configured! But I am not smart enough to figure out what to type in terminal to get to the reef-pi crontab.

 

[bishoptf]

I think my timers are fine, but crontab isn't showing anything at all which is confusing. I logged in via my normal profile, and I checked as root as well. Nothing showing up in crontab.

Well I haven't had a chance to dig into and see how they are using cron, there are lots of ways of doing it....maybe this might help, read through this and look at all of the cron locations and see what turns up - https://www.cyberciti.biz/faq/linux-show-what-cron-jobs-are-setup/

 

[Ranjib]

reef-pi dummy checking in. I made some timers for my light outlets, using both the starting time and a timer to turn them off, and then deleted those and tried a timer to turn the outlet on, and then another to turn it back off. I have deleted all timers associated with the outlet, and I cannot get it to stay off when I turn it off. I have rebooted the rpi to be sure the timers changes took effect. Still can't get the outlet to turn off. What am I doing wrong?

Further, what is the proper way to make timers to turn on at a certain time of every day and then back off at a certain time?

Thanks for any help!

can you share a screenshot of your timer and the use case, like when you want to turn it on/off etc. We can then review your timer configuration

 

[Ranjib]

The power controller guides goes over the timer section, both on adafruit - https://learn.adafruit.com/reef-pi-power-controller/configure-and-test and github - https://reef-pi.github.io/build-guides/power/

If you have deleted all your timers you just check crontab and ensure that all of them have been removed, if not maybe there is a bug etc...

though reef-pi uses cron like syntax to represent timers, it does not use cron itself , so you wont see anything in linux crontab etc. Cron is implemented purely in go inside reef-pi, using a library (yay to opensource).

 

[bishoptf]

can you share a screenshot of your timer and the use case, like when you want to turn it on/off etc. We can then review your timer configuration

lol, nevermind...make sense, so its all stored in the db? - Reading this https://godoc.org/github.com/robfig/cron

 

[Ranjib]

I think my timers are fine, but crontab isn't showing anything at all which is confusing. I logged in via my normal profile, and I checked as root as well. Nothing showing up in crontab.

That is as expected. reef-pi does not uses linux cron jobs for timer, it just utilizes the familiar syntax. Cron is implemented purely in go lang inside reef-pi, using another opensource library

 

[Ranjib]

lol, nevermind...make sense, so its all stored in the db? - Reading this https://godoc.org/github.com/robfig/cron

nope.. its in-memory. reef-pi uses boltdb for persistence, where all the timer specs are kept, upon startup (or updates) the in-memory cron store is synced with persistent store. we try to reduce disk i/o as much as possible, since sd cards are one of the biggest reliability concerns in Raspberry pi

 

[bishoptf]

nope.. its in-memory. reef-pi uses boltdb for persistence, where all the timer specs are kept, upon startup (or updates) the in-memory cron store is synced with persistent store. we try to reduce disk i/o as much as possible, since sd cards are one of the biggest reliability concerns in Raspberry pi

Makes sense...

 

[rushbattle]

can you share a screenshot of your timer and the use case, like when you want to turn it on/off etc. We can then review your timer configuration

Here is the configuration presently. Seems to be working fine on the "blue channel" but the "white channel" seems to be on a 15s time constant. I can turn it off manually in the equipment tab but it turns right back on after a max of around 14s. I made a dummy timer to turn it off and it turns off, then right back on after 15s. I can't delete the outlet or the equipment because equipment is "in use."

Edit: I am an idiot. I was testing the temperature control module and somehow I managed to get the white channel equipment designated as the heater. My apologies to all!

 

[bishoptf]

Here is the configuration presently. Seems to be working fine on the "blue channel" but the "white channel" seems to be on a 15s time constant. I can turn it off manually in the equipment tab but it turns right back on after a max of around 14s. I made a dummy timer to turn it off and it turns off, then right back on after 15s. I can't delete the outlet or the equipment because equipment is "in use."

Edit: I am an idiot. I was testing the temperature control module and somehow I managed to get the white channel equipment designated as the heater. My apologies to all!

Glad you found it, happens to all of us...

 

[Ranjib]

Here is the configuration presently. Seems to be working fine on the "blue channel" but the "white channel" seems to be on a 15s time constant. I can turn it off manually in the equipment tab but it turns right back on after a max of around 14s. I made a dummy timer to turn it off and it turns off, then right back on after 15s. I can't delete the outlet or the equipment because equipment is "in use."

Edit: I am an idiot. I was testing the temperature control module and somehow I managed to get the white channel equipment designated as the heater. My apologies to all!

No worries . I assume its working as expected now?

 

[Ranjib]

Glad you found it, happens to all of us...

yeah.. with macro theres a high risk of messing things up as well. I am still thinking what user experience improvements we can do to avoid this as much as possible. This whole thing will get complicated once we have macro spanning across reef-pi's

 

[bishoptf]

yeah.. with macro theres a high risk of messing things up as well. I am still thinking what user experience improvements we can do to avoid this as much as possible. This whole thing will get complicated once we have macro spanning across reef-pi's

Yeah for sure, some kind of clustering arrangement, I'm sure you thought about it, lots of clustering stuff out there, just need to figure out what's makes the most sense and is simple but powerful..keep it simple if possible

You see my breadboard posting, I think I have it laid out correct, about to turn in but will do some soldering tomorrow.

 

[rushbattle]

No worries . I assume its working as expected now?

Perfectly! As expected when a dolt isn't organizing things.... my shame and embarrassment will sting for a while from this one.

Perhaps an "idiot check" summary page would help folks like me? Being able to see what module is controlling the outlets, inlets and jacks might have helped without having to look through every module. This shouldn't be necessary because I shouldn't have made this mistake, but I am afraid there are others like me. I have zero idea if this would take 15 minutes of programming or much much longer. Please ignore if it would be an inconvenience.

 

[Ranjib]

Perfectly! As expected when a dolt isn't organizing things.... my shame and embarrassment will sting for a while from this one.

Perhaps an "idiot check" summary page would help folks like me? Being able to see what module is controlling the outlets, inlets and jacks might have helped without having to look through every module. This shouldn't be necessary because I shouldn't have made this mistake, but I am afraid there are others like me. I have zero idea if this would take 15 minutes of programming or much much longer. Please ignore if it would be an inconvenience.

I'll keep this in mind. It can get very complicated, as connectors are associated with equipment or modules. and equipment /module can be associated with multiple timers, macros etc..

 

[rushbattle]

yeah.. with macro theres a high risk of messing things up as well. I am still thinking what user experience improvements we can do to avoid this as much as possible. This whole thing will get complicated once we have macro spanning across reef-pi's

I find the macros easier myself. It's like a story: this thing does an action, then another thing does an action, we wait for a few minutes, then another thing does an action. It's like watching a short movie. Now that I have been thoroughly embarrassed I might even be better at the more straight forward issues....

 

[crusso1993]

Perfectly! As expected when a dolt isn't organizing things.... my shame and embarrassment will sting for a while from this one.

Perhaps an "idiot check" summary page would help folks like me? Being able to see what module is controlling the outlets, inlets and jacks might have helped without having to look through every module. This shouldn't be necessary because I shouldn't have made this mistake, but I am afraid there are others like me. I have zero idea if this would take 15 minutes of programming or much much longer. Please ignore if it would be an inconvenience.

I like the idea of an "idiot check" summary. However, I believe this is avoidable by people starting their own threads when building out their systems because, while most systems will be alike, each system is tailored for each individual user. A very cool aspect of doing a project like reef pi is that there is so much help available from other previous builders who are more than willing to assist! A true community of people who want to see other people succeed and I love it!

 

[stefanm]

Got my pi 3 a+ today, have just downloaded the Software, I'll attempt a headless install, maybe later tonight if I can get home or tomorrow afternoon I have a coyplc of hours free.

 

[Ranjib]

I like the idea of an "idiot check" summary. However, I believe this is avoidable by people starting their own threads when building out their systems because, while most systems will be alike, each system is tailored for each individual user. A very cool aspect of doing a project like reef pi is that there is so much help available from other previous builders who are more than willing to assist! A true community of people who want to see other people succeed and I love it!

+100. Community is key when it comes to help each other, share and learn
I look out for common pitfalls across threads. I have received some positive feedback for the guides and I know that’s because it is backed by past two years of learning here across different threads and few failed attempts , that goes way beyond my own builds . These are invaluable